Machine for cleaning motion-picture films.



H. M. COLBYSON & A. S. DWORSKY. MAHINE FOR CLEANING monom PICTURE FILMS. L

' APPUCATION FILED MAR ZO. {MEL @hra/a H. M. COLBYSON & A. S. DWORSKY.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING MOTION PICTURE FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED mmzo. I916.

Patented June 19, 1917.

T 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

jag ,2

H. M. COLBYSON & A. S. DWORSKY. I MACHINE ron CLEANING MOTION PICTURE FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. I916 Patentd June 19, 191?.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- H. M. COLBYSON & A. S. DWORSKY.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING MOTION PICTURE FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. I916.

1,239,18 I I Patented June 19, 191?.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 HARDES M. COLBYSON AND ABRAHAM S. DWORSKY, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING Morrow-PICTURE FILMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed March 20, 1916. Serial No. 85,266.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARDES M OOLBY- son and ABRAHAM S. DWonsKr, citizens of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the c untg of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cleaning Motion-Picture Films; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple and highly efiicient machine for cleaning motion picture films;

, and to such ends, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like arts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine with the first section removed;

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation of the machine with the film receiving reels removed;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the film' rereiving reels and driving mechanism theretals 7 and 8; rigidly secured on the bearing pedestal 3 is a large central bearing pedestal 9 having a heavy transverse top plate 10; rigidly secured on the bed plate 4; are bearing pedestals 11 and 12; and rigidly secured on the bed plate 5 are bearing pedestals 13. Also, rigidly secured on the bed Fig. 4 is an elevation showing mechanism plate 3 at front and rear of the pedestal 9 are short bearing pedestals 14 and 15. J ournaled in the pedestals 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively, are transverse shafts 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. The present machine is arranged to simultaneously clean four films, and hence, each of said shafts just noted carries four soft' faced buffing wheels 22, of any well known or approved construction suitable for removing smoke, dirt and grease without scratching the film surface.

- For cooperation with each pair of butting wheels 22, there is a grooved platen wheel 23. The four Wheels 23 of the first set, at the left in respect to Fig. 2, are independently journaled to cross-heads 2st; the four wheels of the second or intermediate set of wheels 23 are independently journaled to cross-heads 25; and the four wheels of the last or third set of platen wheels 23 are independently journaled to cross-heads 26. The cross heads 24 and 26 are supported in like manner and each is mounted for vertical sliding movements in upright crosshead guides 27, the bases of which, in turn, have horizontal dove-tailed engagement with guide blocks 28 rigidly secured on the respective bed plates 2 and 4. The said cross-heads 24 and 26 are arranged for independent vertical adjustment, by manipu lation of' adjusting screw rods' 29 swiveled to the caps of the cross-head guides 27 and having screw-threaded engagement with said cross-heads; and the said crosshead guides 27 are adapted to be given horizontal adjustments longitudinally of the machine, by adjusting screw rods 30 swiveled to lugs on the respective bed plates 2 and 4 and having threaded engagement with base portions of said cross-head guides.

The intermediate crossheads 25 are mounted for vertical sliding movements in cross-head guides 31, which, at their upper ends, have dove-tailed sliding engagement with horizontal guides 32 on the cross bar 10 of the pedestal 9. The said cross-heads 25 are adapted to be given independent vertical adjustments by screw rods 33 swiveled to the bottom plates of the respective crosshead guides 31 and having threaded engagement with the said cross-heads; and the said cross-head guides 31 are adaptedto be given independent horizontal adjustments longitudinally of the machine, by screw rods 34 swiveled to lugs 0n. .the cross bar 10 and having threaded engagementwith the said cross-head guides 31. v

By means described,the so-called platen wheels 23 are adapted to be given'both vertical and horizontal adjustments toward and from the cooperating pairs of bufling wheels 22, and thus ma be set in th proper pressure of the bu g wheels on the film, regardless of varying diameter of the said butting Wheels. It will be understood'that the bufiiing wheels will wear away quite rapidly in use, so that frequent adjustments of the above character will be required,

The films indicated by the character 9 are adaptedto bepassed alternately over and under small idle guide wheels 35 arranged to cooperate in pairs with the platen wheels 23. The line of travel of the films over and under the cooperating wheels is indicated in Fig. 2, by reference to which it will be seen, that the film passes, first over-the first 1 vplaten wheel 23 and under the two cooperating guiding wheels and two cooperating bufiing wheels 22; second, under the second platen wheel 23 and over the twocooperat ing guide wheels 35 andtwo cooperating bufling wheels 22; and third, over the third platen wheel and under the two 'last .cooperating guide wheels 35 and two .last-co-;. 85

operating bufling wheels 22. Under this line of travel it is obvious that the film will be bufl'ed and cleaned, first on one side and then on the other, by the action of the alternated bufling wheels.

The idle guide wheels 35 above described may be supported in various difierent ways,

but 'as shown, those that coiiperate with the first and third bufling wheels are independently journaled on cross shafts or spindles 36 supported by the pedestals 7, 8,11 and 12, while the guide wheels 35 that co6perate with the central. buffing wheels. are independently journaled on shafts or spindles 37.held by brackets 38', which, in turn, are

and subject to adjusting screws 43, by means I of which the tension of the cooperating-rollers on the film may be varied at Wlll.

speed oftravel of the filmsl y. 1

At its central portion, the shaft .41 is provided with a pulley 44 over which a powerdrivcn belt may be run to impart predetermined desired feeding movement to the film. The-shafts 16, 17, 18,19, 20, and 21,-at, their central portions, are rovided with pulleys 45 overw-hich power d i'iven belts, not shown, are adapted. to berun to impart; rotation to the said buffing wheels. Here it may be noted that the feed rollers 39" and 40. are rotated in a direction to cause the film to travel from the left toward the right, in respect to Fig.

2, and that'the bufling wheels are preferably all driven in a. direction which tends to fahighly important, because the speed of rotation of the said feed rollers determines the 'cilitate or assist in this movement of. the film, although, this latter feature is not From the feed rol1er's,the cleanfilin; passes to. theffilm 1.receiving reels 46 whicha're of the usual construction. These reels 1 46, are f detachably secured to the. ends; of: short shafts 47'mountedin theupper ends of bear ing posts 48,.the lower ends of which fit socketsonthe bed plate GJandQare rigidly,"

49. At their projecting ends, the shafts 47 alinewith sim'ilar grooved pulleys51 carried vbut detachably held thereto by set screws 7 are providedwith grooved pulleys 50 that by the feed roller shaft Q41." Transversely crossed guide belts 52,,r1j1nover-the alined pulleys 50 andv 51. The pulleys .50 and 151 are driven at such speed 'andareso'arranged that the filmlwill be wound onto the reel as fast as it comes from the, feed ,rollers, even; when the rolled par't of the film is ofthe least diameter; and, as the size offthe roll increases, the belt 52 Wil'lsimplybe caused to slip. Thisarrangement'kee th i' filf tightly. Wound on the reels and is !a highly important feature.

It is "a' well known fact that motion picture films not only get dirty, .jbut become scratched, and that the dirt accumus.

lates in these scratches, producing on the motion picture flickering l nes 'givingmuch'the I efiect of rain. Films run through the machine described will be thoroughl cleaned and polished, andfurthermore, t eaction of the bufling tool will not only clean the.

dirt out of the scratched lines, but will tend to close the scratches by a sort. of a burnishing operation. The machinedescribed is, as stated, arranged to simultaneously clean four films. This number may, as is obvious,

be varied, either by way of increaseor decrease.

By adjustments of the" wheels 23,111 respect to the bufiing wheels 22, the frictional engagement between the buifingwheels and film may be varied. This frictional contact;

to soften slightly the surface of the film and 'cause s cratches therein :to be filled 0; smoothed over by' the bufling and cleaning. action. Y Y

What we claimis:

.In a film cleaning machine, the combiner tion with aplaten roller-and a 'pai'r;of cooperating bufing wheels,iof means'for adjusting said platen ro1 ler,' -'both; vei tieally and horizontally toward endh'om the cooperating bnfiing wheels.

In testimony whereof tures in presence-of two witnesses.

r HARDES M; COLBYSON.

Witnesse mGLQA'DEMAnnsT,

v i- Bn N'1cn G. Wmsmn.

i "ABRAHAM s. DWORSKY. 

